Safety locomotive sander



March 5, 193 5.

E. C. KIRK SAFETY LOCOMOTIVE SANDER Filed Nov. 24, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR BY Edward KEY k /I? Cty g/ Q TTORNEYS t March 5, 1935. I E, Q KW 1,993,145

SAFETY LOCOMOTIVE SANDER Filed Nov. 24, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR BYEQ wa/"Q v /em fif jfuromz m March 5, 1935. E c. KlRK 1,993,145

IN VENT OR March 5, 1935. E, c K 1,993,145

SAFETY LOCOMOT IVE SANDER Filed Nov. 24, l93l 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 87 88: 69 W a; "w /0 4 I I 83 F 6 A A mm W A M/ uuw .96

IN VEN TOR Q ATTORNEYS v Patented Mar. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY LOCOMOTIVE SANDER Application November 24, 1931, Serial No. 577,041

Claims.

The invention relates to sanders for locomotives, motor driven cars and the like and more particularly to a sander especially adapted for use upon mine locomotives.

5 It is customary to use sanders upon locomotives for applying sand to the rails in front of the driving wheels, this being especially required upon curves or grades. The sanders such as are now in general use include a sand box located adjacent to the driving wheel with a spout rigidly connected to the sand box and directed toward the rail in front of the driving wheel. When the locomotive is upon a curve, where the sand is most needed, it will be seen that this rigid spout instead of being directed toward the rail in front of the driving wheel will, due to the turning of the locomotive around the curve,-be directed to one side or the other of the rail. The sand from the spout is thus discharged alongside of the rail instead of upon the rail where it is needed.

Considerable difiiculty is thus experienced by the operators of mine locomotives in pulling heavy loads around curves and it is customary for the operator of the locomotive, at such times, to place his hand under the sand spout in an efiort to deflect the sand upon the rail directly in. front of the driving wheel. This is a very dangerous procedure and results quite frequently in injury or death.

Another difficulty experienced with the use of sanders such as are now in general use is that the sand becomes wet andpacks in the spout and lower portion of the sand box, preventing the same from being discharged upon the rails when the valve is operated. This is caused by water passing upward through the spout when the locomotive passes through water pits and the like Which are frequently encountered in mines. It has also been found that gravel which is frequently present in the sand becomes lodged upon the valve seat, causing difiiculty in the feeding of the sand and operation of the valve.

An object of the present improvement is to provide a pivoted or swinging spout with means for swinging the same upon a vertical axis in order that it may be directed upon the rail soas to discharge sand on the rail in front of the driving wheel when passing around a curve.

Another object is to provide an adjustable detachable spout which-may be quickly and easily adjusted to the desired height with respect to the rail and which may be readily removed and replaced in the event the same is damaged in use.

A further object of the improvement is to provide a water deflector arranged to normally prevent the passage of water upward from the spout into the sander.

Another object is to provide a swinging hammer within the sander adapted to break up any sand which may become hardened or packed by the presence of moisture.

A further object of the improvement is to pro vide a raised valve seat for the purpose of pre venting gravel and the like from lodging thereon.

Another object is to provide concaved or bell shaped portions upon the undersides of the levers mounted upon the tubular shafts which operate the sander.

A further object of the improvement is to pro:- vide a housing formed of two or more sections for enclosing parts of the improved sander mechanism.

The above and other objects may be attained by providing a sand box adjacent to each driving wheel of the locomotive, a detachable spout being adjustably mounted below each sand box and normally directed toward the rail in front of the adjacent driving wheel; there being a pair of shafts, the outer of which is tubular and surrounds the other shaft, said shafts extending vertically through the sand box; a raised valve seat being provided in the sander and a valve cooperating therewith being operated by one of said shafts to discharge sand through the valve seat to the spout; a water deflector being operatively connected to one of said shafts and arranged to normally prevent water from passing upward from the spout to the valve seat; a swinging hammer being operatively connected to one of the shafts for breaking up and loosening sand which may become packed, said water deflector and hammer being enclosed within a housing formed of two or more detachable sections; there being levers upon the upper ends of the shafts of each sanding device and means operatively connecting the levers of the different sanding devices so that they may be all operated in unison, said levers being provided with concaved or bell shaped under portions to prevent the dainage of moisture downward through or around the shafts into the sand.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a fragmentary elevation of a portion of a mine locomotive showing a driving wheel and sander associated therewith;

Fig. 2, a vertical sectional view of the improved sander;

Fig. 3, a plan sectional view of the same taken as on the line 33, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4, a bottom plan view of the mechanism shown in Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 5, a perspective view of the link and lever mechanism for simultaneously operating the several sanding mechanisms;

Fig. 6, a fragmentary sectional elevation of the means for normally holding the water deflectors in closed position and the hammers in the inoperative position;

Fig. '7, a vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 2, showing a modified form of the invention; and

Fig. 8, a plan sectional view taken as on the line 8-8, Fig. '7.

Similar numerals refer throughout the drawings.

The improved sander is adapted to be applied to a sand box of usual construction illustrated generally at 10 and arranged to be mounted upon the frame 11 of a locomotive or the like in front of a driving wheel 12 as in ordinary practice. The apparatus to which the invention pertains preferably includes a housing formed of the upper and lower sections 13 and 14 respectively adapted to be connected together and to the sand box 10 as by bolts 15, the upper section 13 of the housing forming the bottom of the sand box 10.

A boss 16 may be formed upon the upper side of the top section 13, the upper end of said boss being flat and properly finished to form a valve seat as indicated at 1'7. This valve seat is raised considerably above the section 13 to prevent gravel and the like from lodging upon the valve seat and clogging the port 18.

The boss 16 is provided with a vertical bore 19 within which is journaled the lower portion of a tubular shaft 20, which extends upward through the sand box 10, a valve 21 being fixed upon said shaft, as by the pin 22, and adapted to slide upon the valve seat 17 and to normally close the port 18.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, a tubular shaft 23 may be located within the tubular shaft 20 and extended upward to a point above the boss 16, being preferably connected at this point, as by a pin 23a, to a solid shaft 24 which extends up to similar parts through the tubular shaft 20 to a point above the upper end thereof.

The tubular shafts 20 and 23 are provided with openings 25 and 25a respectively, adapted to register with each other and of sufficient width to permit the same to register with the port 18 in any position to which said tubular shafts may be moved in the operation of the apparatus.

For the purpose of breaking up and loosening any sand in the housing which may have become packed or hardened due to moisture or the like, a hammer, shown generally at 26, is fixed upon the lower end of the inner tubular shaft 23, this hammer being provided with a central opening 2'? to permit sand to pass downward therethrough from the tubular shaft 23. A web 28 is formed upon the upper side of the hammer 26, at one side of the opening 27 therein, the integral collar 29 being formed upon said web for connection to the shaft 23 as by a pin 30.

As shown in Fig. 2, the hammer 26 is spaced below the top wall of the housing section 13 to accommodate the water deflector 31 which is piv-- oted upon said top wall as by the stud 32. The swinging end of the water deflector 31 is of segmental shape as shown at 33, being provided at one end with an opening 34 adapted to register with the lower end of the tubular shaft 23 only when the valve 21 is in open position as will be later described. The normal position of the Water deflector, with the valve 21 in closed position, is as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with the lower end of the tubular shaft 23 covered by the solid portion of the segment 33.

For the purpose of operating the water deflector 31 in unison with the valve 21, a lever 35 is fixed upon the lower end portion of the tubular shaft 20 as by a pin 36, said lever being received within the recessed portion 37 in the boss 16. A stud 38 depends from the swinging end of the lever 35 and is received in the slot 39 formed in the water deflector 31, whereby the rotation of the shaft 20 upon its axis will cause the water deflector 31 to swing upon its pivot 32.

The opening 27 through the hammer 26 is shouldered as at 40 to receive the coil spring 41 which bears against the underside of the segmental portion 33 of the water deflector in order to hold the same tightly against the lower end of the tubular shaft 23 at all times.

The bottom wall of the lower section 14 of the housing is cut out as at 42 to accommodate the hammer 26, the swinging end of the hammer being reduced as at 43 and extending over the bottom wall of the section 14, beyond said cut-out portion. An anvil 44 is formed in the housing section 14 at each side of the cut-out portion 42 thereof for contact with the swinging hammer 26 when the same is swung to the dot and dash line positions shown in Fig. 4. By swinging the hammer back and forth against these anvils, any sand which may have become packed in or around the parts of the apparatus is loosened and broken up.

The sand spout 45 is detachably and adjustably mounted upon the underside of the hammer 26. For this purpose the underside of the hammer is concaved as at 47 and the spout 45 is provided at its upper end with a collar 48 having the convexed upper surface 49 adapted to fit the concaved portion 47 of the hammer. Slots 50 are provided in this collar and screws 51 are located through the slots and into suitable threaded apertures in the hammer. The spout 45 may be swung to any desired adjusted position as shown in Fig. 2, and the screws 51 are then tightened to hold the spout in this position.

As in ordinary practice, a section of hose, as shown at 52, is preferably carried by the spout 45 and leads to a point near the rail 53, upon which the driving wheel 12 is located so as to convey sand to the rail in front of the driving wheel.

It will be seen that when the inner shaft 23 is rotated upon its axis, the hammer 26 and sand spout 45 are swung to one side or the other of the median line of the sander. Thus, when the locomotive is passing around a curve the sand spout may be swung to the desired position to discharge sand upon the rail in front of the driving wheel. It will be seen that this is a great improvement over the ordinary construction of sanders in which the rigid sand spout will discharge the sand on one side or the other of the rail when the locomotive is passing around a curve.

It should be understood that it is common practice to provide a sander for each of the four driving wheels of a mine locomotive and it is therefore desirable that means be provided for operating the several devices in unison.

It will be obvious that when the locomotive is moving forward it is only necessary to discharge sand upon the rails in front of each of the forward driving wheels while when the locomotive is moving in reverse, there is only necessity for discharging sand upon the rails in front of the two rear driving wheels. The invention, therefore, contemplates the provision of mechanism for operating the water deflectors and sand valves of each pair of sanders in unison and independently of the other pair. However, as it may be desirable to operate the hammers of all four of thesanders simultaneously for the purpose of loosening or breaking up any sand which may have become packed or hardened, means is provided for doing the same.

For this purpose a lever 55 is fixed upon the upper end of the outer tubular shaft 20 of each sander and a similar lever 56 is fixed upon the upper end of the shaft 24 of each sander. In order to prevent moisture from draining downward through or around the shafts and to the sandwithin the sander, each lever may be provided with a bell shapedportion 57 surrounding the shaft upon which it is mounted and adapted to drain moisture away from the shafts.

The mechanism for operating the sanders in unison is shown in Fig. 5. The levers 55 for operating the valves and water deflectors on the two sanders at the forward end of the locomotive may be connected together as by a link 58 and a lever 59 may be formed integrally with or fixed to one of the levers 55 and located at a convenient posi tion for the operator of the locomotive to manipulate the same so as to simultaneously open both of the forward sand valves 21 and water deflectors 31, permitting sand to pass from the sand box through the port 18 and openings 25 and 25a to the interior of the tubular shaft 23 and then downward through the opening 34 in each water deflector and opening 27 of each hammer to the spouts 45.

In order to operate the'sand valves and water deflectors of the two rear sanders in unison, the levers 55 of the two rear sanders may be connected together as by a link 60 which is preferably formed of two sections of rod adjustably connected together as by the rod coupling 61. One of these rear levers 55 may have formed integrally therewith or fixed thereto an arm 62 to which is pivotally connected an operating rod 63 extending forward through a guide plate 64 which may be fixed in any suitable manner upon a stationary portion of the locomotive, said operating rod being provided at its forward end with a handle 65 located at a convenient position for the operator to grasp when it is desired to operate the valves and water deflectors of the two rear sanders.

The two rear levers 56 may be connected together as by a link 66 preferably in the form of two rod sections adjustably connected together as by the rod coupling 67. An arm 68 is preferably formed integrally with or fixed to each of the rear levers 56 and a link 69 connects each of said arms 68 with the forward lever 56 of the sander on the adjacent side of the locomotive.

One of the rear levers 56 may have an arm '70 fixed thereto or formed integrally therewith, to which arm is pivotally connected an operating rod 71 leading through a slot '72 in the guide plate 64 and notched as at 73 so that the rod may normally be received in the depending reduced portion '74 of said slot to hold the parts in the normal position.

A handle 75 may be provided upon the forward end of the operating rod 71 and located in position to permit the operator to manipulate the same in order to simultaneously operate all four of the hammers and spouts.

In the modification shown in Figs. '7 and 8, the sand box may be of the general construction as above described and has connected to its lower open end the sander housing comprising the upper and lower sections 80 and 81 respectively, connected to the sandbox as by the bolts 82. The upper section 81 forms the bottom wall for the sand box and has formed thereon the raised boss 83 through which is located a port 84 communicating at its upper end with the flat valve seat 85 formed upon the upper end of the boss.

A vertical bore 86 is provided in the boss 83 and journaled therein is the vertical tubular shaft 87 having fixed thereto, as by a pin 88, the valve 89 working upon the valve seat 85. The water deflector 90 is fixed upon the lower end of the tubular shaft 87 as by the pin 91 and carries the disk portion 92 arranged to be held against the under surface of the section 80 to normally close the passage 84, as by the spring 93.

A shaft 94 is journaled within the tubular shaft 8'7 and has fixed to its lower end a swinging hammer 95 provided with the opening 96 adapted to communicate with the port 84 when the water deflector is moved to the open position, bringing the opening 97 of said water deflector to register with the port 84. In this position the leading edge of the water deflector 90 will contact with the stud 98 depending from the upper section 80, stopping the water deflector in the open position.

For the purpose of guiding the sand to the opening 96 of the hammer, a raised flange or wall 99 may be formed around the side of the water deflector adjacent to the opening 97 therein.

The sand spout 100 may be of substantially the form and construction above described and mounted for adjustable attachment to the hammer 95 in the same manner as illustrated and described with reference to the sand spout 45.

With this construction it will be seen that with the valve 89 in closed position the water deflector cuts off communication between the port 84 and the spout 100, preventing water from passing upward through the spout and into the sand passage. When the valve 89 is moved to open position the water deflector will be simultaneously opened. The swinging hammer may be operated by rotation of the shaft 94 to alter nately strike the anvils 101 formed at opposite sides of the housing section 81 in order to jar loose any sand which may be packed in the mechanism. As the swinging hammer is operated the spout 100 carried thereby will be simultaneously swung upon its vertical pivot.

From the above it will be seen that many of the objections to the present type of sander are overcome. First, it is obvious that by swinging the spout sand may be discharged upon the rail in front of each driving wheel as the locomotive goes around a curve, thus remedying the greatest objection to sanders of the type now in common use.

The water deflector prevents the passage of water upward through the spout, thus preventing the sand from becoming unduly moistened, and overcoming to a large extent the packing or caking of sand in the mechanism due to moisture. The concaved or bell shaped portions upon the levers at the upper ends of the operating shafts will prevent drainage of moisture down through and around the shafts to the sand.

In the event there is any packing or caking of the sand, this is quickly remedied by operation of the swinging hammer which loosens and breaks up packed or caked sand. The raised valve seat prevents the lodging of pebbles and the like thereon, thus preventing the same from clogging the port in the valve seat and preventing operation of the valve.

By providing a detachable adjustable sand spout it will be seen that in the event of accident the entire mechanism is not likely to be damaged but only the detachable spout which may be easily and quickly replaced.

It will also be obvious that because of the means for preventing and overcoming any packing or caking of the sand, a much smaller port or passage from the sand valve to the spout may be used than is possible with sanders now in common use. This is a considerable saving in sand as ordinarily more sand than is necessary or desirable is discharged upon the rails with the sanders now in common use which are provided with passages or ports more than twice the size of those required in the present apparatus.

I claim:

1. In combination with a sand box, a spout associated with the sand box for discharging sand therefrom, a valve controlling the passage of sand from the sand box to the spout, a water deflector at the upper end of the spout for normally cutting off communication between the spout and the sand box, and means for simultaneously moving the valve and water deflector to open position.

2. In combination with a sand box, a spout associated with the sand box for discharging sand therefrom, a valve seat raised above the bottom of the sand box, a port in the valve seat communicating with the spout, a valve cooperating with said valve seat for controlling the passage of sand therethrough, a water deflector at the upper end of the spout, and means for simultaneously operating the valve and water deflector.

3. A sander including a sand box, a spout communicating with the sand box for discharging sand therefrom, a swinging hammer mounted above and connected to said spout, and means for operating said hammer to loosen sand which may become packed in the sander.

4. A sander including a sand box, a swinging hammer in the lower portion of said sander, means for operating said hammer to loosen sand which may become packed in the sander, and a spout carried by the hammer, there being an opening in the hammer whereby sand from the sand box may be discharged through the spout.

5. A sander including a sand box, a swinging hammer at the lower portion of the sand box, means for operating the hammer to loosen sand which may become packed in the sander, and a detachable spout adustably connected to the hammer, there being an opening in the hammer to permit sand from the sand box to be discharged through the spout.

6. A sander including a sand box, a housing at the lower portion of the box formed of two separable sections, a swinging hammer within said housing, and a sand spout carried by the hammer, there being an opening in the hammer to permit sand from the sand box to be discharged through the spout.

7. A sander including a sand box, a tubular shaft located through the sand box, a shaft mounted within said tubular shaft, a valve carried by the tubular shaft for controlling the flow of sand from the sand box, a swinging hammer carried by the second named shaft for loosening sand which may become packed in the sander, and a spout carried by the swinging hammer, there being an opening in the hammer to permit sand from the sand box to be discharged through the spout.

8. A sander including a sand box, a tubular shaft located through the sand box, a shaft mounted within said tubular shaft, a valve carried by the tubular shaft for controlling the flow of sand from the sand box, a swinging hammer carried by the second named shaft for loosening sand which may become packed in the sander, a spout carried by the swinging hammer, there being an opening in the hammer to permit sand from the sand box to be discharged through the spout, a water deflector at the upper end of the sand spout, and means upon the tubular shaft for operating the water deflector.

9. A sander including a sand box, a vertical shaft located through the sand box, a spout carried by the lower end of said shaft for discharging sand from the sand box, and a lever upon the upper end of the shaft for operating said shaft to swing the spout thereby, said lever having a concaved under portion surrounding the shaft to drain moisture away from the shaft.

10. A sander including a sand box, a vertical shaft located through the sand box, a spout at the lower portion of the sand box, a valve carried by said shaft for controlling the passage of said from the sand box to the spout, and a lever upon the upper end of said shaft for rotating the shaft to operate said valve, said lever having a concaved under portion surrounding the shaft to drain moisture away from the shaft.

EDWARD C. KIRK. 

